Automatic press for concrete blocks



' J. MILNER. AUTOMATIC PRESS FOR CONCRETE BLOCKS.

APPLICATION FILED MAY 15, 1920.

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P My W8 W. .l. MILNER.

AUTOMATIC PRESS FOR CONCRETE BLOCKS.

APPLICATION FILED MAY 15. 1920.

1,392,435, v Patented 00th 4, 1921.

2 SHEETSSHEET 2.

. INVENTOR.

BY Q5 3:3

A TTORNEY NITE STATES PATENT o nc ILLIAM J. MILNE QOF s'rocx'ron,CALIFORNIA.

. AUTOMATIC r nnssron CONCRETE Brooks-.1

Application filed May 15,

T 0 all whom it may concern: 1 1

Be it known that I, WILLIAM J MILNER, acitizen of the United States,residing at Stockton, in the county of San Joaquin, State of California,have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Automatic Pressesfor Concrete Blocks; and I. do declare the following to-be a'full,clear, and exact description of the same, reference being had to theaccompanying drawings, and to the characters of reference markedthereon, which form apart of this application. 7 7

This invention relates to improvements in machines for pressing concreteblocks used in building construction, theprinci'pal ob ject of theinvention being to prod'ucea machine for the purpose whichwillautomatically feed exactly'the necessary amount of concrete into thepresser chamberand then press the same, and after pressing,automatically expose the block so that "it may readily be removed priorto another press-' ing operation.

By this means, it is possible with no'attention. on thepart of theoperator other than to see that the supply of'concrete to the machine ismaintained, to have concrete blocks turned out which will all have thesame amount of material therein, and consequently will be pressed tothesame density. Y A further object of the inventionis to produce asimple and inexpensive device, and yet one which will be exceedinglyeffective for the purposes for which it is designed.

These objects I accomplish by means of such structure and relativearrangement of parts asvwill fully appear by a perusal of the followingspecification and claims.

In the drawings similar characters of reference indicate correspondingparts in the several views.- p 1 Figurel is a front elevation. v Fig. 2is a rear view, certain parts being omitted in order to show theactuating mechanisms more clearly.

Fig. 3 is a vertical cross section.

Fig- 4 is a top plan view.

Fig. 5 is a perspective view of a removable block-retaining hood.

Referring now more particularly to the characters of reference on thedrawings, the numeral 1 denotes'the framework ofthe machine, of anysuitable and substantial Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented oct. 4, 1921.

1920. Serial No. 381,561.

construction. Fixed to the frame are'upper and lower pairs of verticalguide bars 2 and 3, each pair being spaced apart vertically a certaindistance. Slidable between the guides are crossheads 4 and 5respectively, to which are fixed presser heads 6, having a face areaequal to the blocks to be pressed, and movable in the space between thepairs of guides. I

, Connecting rods 7 and 8 are pivoted to the cross heads 4: and 5respectively and to gears 9 and 10 mounted to the frame 1, which gearsare connected to turn simultaneously and in the same direction by anidler pinion ll therebetween.

The lower gear 10 is operatively connected to be driven at any desiredrate of speed by. a train of gears 12, which may be turned by hand, orbe power driven, as desired.

y The presser heads 6 are slidable in achamber 13, having a-continuouswall 14 fixed to the frame between the presser heads and the gears 911,the latter being spaced somewhat therefrom fora purpose .as willthatside opposite the wall 14, is provided" for a portion of its height witha. hinged door 15, adapted to open downwardly, the door having sides 16hinged thereto, which also form the sides of the chamber for thatportion thereof, said sides being provided with, spring clips 17 on thelower ends, projecting inwardly and adapted to'engage and hold anindependent and removable bottom pie'ce- 18, which, when the structureis in position in the chamber, is above the lower presser head 6, andforms a wall between 'theconcrete and the said presser head.

' Positioned to discharge into the chamber 13 above the door is an anled chute 18, extending'the full width of t e chamber.

Above said chute and of course communicating therewith is a verticalchute 19 having a transverse cut-off plate 20 slidable therein. Slidablein the chute 19 for a cer- I tween the two cut-off plates controllingthe amount of concrete in a block to be pressed.

The upper cut-ofl plate is automatically moved in and out of the chuteby means of a dog 25 fixed to the back-plate 14 adjacent the gear 9,said dog being positioned to be engaged and moved by the pivotal pin 7"of the connecting rod 7 in said gear. This dog is connected by asuitable lever and link mechanism 26 to a bar 27 pivoted to the frame 1,and connected to the cut-off plate 24 by a link 28, so that when the dogis moved by the pin, the cut-off plate will be slid out of the chute. Aspring 29 is connected' to the structure to normally hold the plate inthe chute to prevent the passage of any concrete thereby.

The lower plate 20 is similarly actuated by means of a dog 30-positionedin the path of the pin 7 to be moved thereby, said dog being positionedbeyond the dog 25 a certain distance in the direction of rotation of thegear,so that the upper plate 24 will be actuated before the lower plateis moved.

The link mechanism 31 between the plate 20 and the dog 30 is alsoprovided with a spring 7 32 so that the plate 20 normally closes thechute 19 against the passageway of any concrete therethrough.

In order to clamp the door 15 and sides 16 together to prevent thespreading or buckling thereof, when the presser heads 6 are movingtoward each other and pressin the block, I provide a pair of rods 33positioned alongside the door 15 and rear wall 14, and connected bytransverse bars 34 adapted to engage the sides 15. This rod and barstructure is arranged to be moved vertically from the bottom of the doorto a point about halfway up the same by means of pivoted bell cranks 35one arm of each of which slidably engages the ends of the rods, and theother arms are connected in common to a lever 36 from one end of which alink 37 extends to a dog 38 pivoted to the backplate 14 in the path ofthe pivotal pin 8 of the connecting rod 8 in the gear 10.

On the front side of the presser head chamber, the link mechanism of thebell cranks is of course omitted, the pivotal shafts 35 thereoftransmitting motion from one pair of bell cranks to the correspondingones on the front side. i

The clamping of the door and side structure 1516 takes place of courseat a predetermined point'in the revolution of the gear 10 and themovement of the presser heads, and stays in such clamped position untilthe presser heads have finished the pressing operation, and are on theirdiverging strokes, when it will be released by reason of the pin 8engaging a cam-recess 36 in the lever 36, this lever being moved by theprior action of the said pin on the member 38 to throw the cam-recess 36into the path of the pin 8".

In operation, a continuousflow of conpresser heads, the upper presserhead having then commenced its downward stroke and finally passing byand covering the opening from the chamber '13 into said chute 18.

vAt the same. time the door clamping mechanism has been actuated so thatwhen the presser heads come together, a rigid inclosure is had in whichthe concrete is pressed into a block. The door clamping mechanism thenreleases, and the door may be swung down, and the block removed to atable or placed on an endless conveyer such as is indicatedat 40.

Meanwhile another quantity of concrete is being measured in the upperchute structure, and by the time the door structure is again folded inposition, the concrete is ready to be discharged into the chamber .13and again pressed so that a continuous operation is thus had. v

In practice, the driving mechanism would be rovided with a clutch orbrake similar to t at used on hoisting drums, so that the machine may beinstantly stopped at any point in its operation if necessary.

From the foregoing description it will be readily seen that I havedevice as, substantially ful Is the object of the invention as set,forth herein. s

While this specification sets 'forthin detail the present and preferredconstruction from such detail maybe resorted to .as do not form adeiparture from the spirit of the invention, s fined by the appended,claims.

Having thus described my invention what I claim as new and useful anddesire to secure by Letters Patent is v g V 1. A concrete block pressincludinga pair of presser heads arranged for opposed reciprocatorymovement, a chamber in which sald presser heads slide and adapted toreceive the concrete to be pressed, a flexible wall structure for thechamberat the point where the concrete is pressed, such structurecomprising a door hlnged to the front of the chamber and side membershinged to the door; and automatic means for holding said door and sidesfirmly in position adj acent the chamber when the block'is beingpressed. V

2. A concrete press including a pair of presser heads, meansforimpartmgopposed roduced such a 1 reciprooatory movement thereto, a chamber inwhich said presser heads slide and adapt ed to receive the'concrete tobe pressed, a door hinged to the chamber at the point where the block ispressed, side members hinged to the door, said door and sides beingadapted to open outwardly to permit the removal of the block when thelatter has been pressed, and means actuated by the presser-headactuating means for clamping the door and sides in position adjacent thechamber when the concrete is being acted on by the resser-heads.

3. A concrete block press including a pair of presser heads arranged foropposed reciprocatory movement, a chamber in which said presser headsslide and adapted to receive the concrete to be pressed, a flexible Wallstructure for the chamber at the point where the concrete is pressed,such structure comprising a door hinged to the front of the chamber andside members hinged to the door; and automatically actuated means forclamping the door and sides firmly in position adjacent the chamber whentheblock is being pressed and for releasing said door and sides afterthe pressure on the block is withdrawn, whereby the door may be openedand the block removed from the chamber.

In testimony whereof I afiix my signature.

WILLIAM J. MILNER.

